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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 68

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 68 - May/10/22
Mr. Francesco Sorbara (Vaughan—Woodbridge, Lib.)
  • May/10/22 4:01:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is great to see you in the chair this afternoon. I hope you and the rest of our hon. colleagues are having a productive week here on the Hill. It is nice to see the sun shining as well and the nice weather. It always brings hope. The Tulip Festival is happening here in the nation's capital in the coming days, so hopefully we will see Canadians come here from coast to coast to coast to visit our nation's capital. I do not want to reiterate fully what my colleague from Kingston and the Islands said. I too have been here for three elections and am in the seventh year, if we calculate that numerically, and I do not think I have ever received a query or comment about removing references to God in anything, or anything to that effect, from any individual. I am therefore very surprised with regard to the motion brought forward by the member for Drummond. I am also a little disappointed. I think we are seized with many issues in the world and in the country. Yes, we can walk and chew gum at the same time with the issues we are seized with, be it inflation, a need in our very strong and growing economy for additional labour supply in this country and for an increase in labour force participation rates or the war in Ukraine, an unprovoked, barbaric instigation of aggression by Putin's regime in Russia. We have issues that we need to grapple with. We need to focus on those issues. This, to me, seems like an issue that is not, I would say, important. I will state that I am against this motion, full stop. I do not like the spirit of the motion. I also do not like the process by which it was brought forward. I am fully against it at this time and will state that at this moment. I do wish to turn my attention to some prepared remarks I have for the remainder of my time. Today, I rise to highlight the importance of staying the course in the fight against racism and discrimination in Canada. Many Canadians believe that because we live in a multicultural society where diversity has become a fundamental element of the Canadian identity, racism and discrimination do not occur in Canada. That is not true. For many, especially Black and indigenous people—
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